Minigame

A minigame (sometimes formatted as "mini-game") is a short game which may reward coins, items, or higher scores. However, some main games may require completion of a minigame to access a new area or gain a key.

The Mario Party series has many types of minigames. Most award ten coins while some award items. In Mario Party, a few minigames can cause a player to lose coins, although this system was changed in later Mario Party games for being too harsh.

1-player minigames are minigames played alone. These minigames are usually accessed by landing on the Star Space. If the player fails, they lose 5 coins; but if they win, the player wins 10 coins, unless it's a different kind of minigame, like Whack-a-Plant, where players can't win or lose.

4-player minigames are minigames that pit all four players against each other. These minigames are made in a sense of equality between all players. This system has remained unchanged since the first Mario Party; however, in Mario Party 9, they are renamed, being called Free-for-All minigames

Luigi, Donkey Kong, and Waluigi attempt to hit Wario with a coconut in Coconut Conk.

1 vs. 3 minigames are games that challenge a single player against the other three. They typically come in three forms, the three players trying to take down or hinder the single player, the single player trying to take down or hinder the other three players, or both the single and three players trying to achieve a similar goal, with the single player usually getting some form of advantage. In Mario Party 9, they are called 1-vs.-Rivals minigames.

2 vs. 2 minigames are minigames that have the player paired-up with another player. Players often need to work together and cooperate to beat these games. Mario Party 9 is the only Mario Party game (not counting Mario Party Advance) not to feature this category of minigames, but Shell Soccer qualifies as a 2 vs. 2 minigame.

Bowser minigames are Bowser's own minigames. Bowser minigames are often extremely unfair to the players, as Bowser makes all the rules. Bowser minigames are also similar to 4-player and 1 vs 3 minigames (where the 1 is the player who landed on the Bowser Space), except that they produce a loser instead of a winner. The loser can lose Coins, Stars (if they have one, or more), or Items.

In Mario Party 1, Bowser Minigames are minigames where players compete against eachother in one of four of four player minigames or a one vs three minigame where each player on the losing side must hand over somewhere between 10-50 coins. If there are no losers due to the game not ending in the time limit, then Bowser steals coins from everyone.

In Mario Party 4, Bowser Minigames are minigames where players compete against each other and the one player who messes up loses. The loser loses either half or all of their coins, or all of their items.

In Mario Party 5, and Mario Party 6, and Mario Party 7, there are Bowser minigames where each player must survive attacks from Bowser and/or Koopa Kid (in Mario Party 7) in a given time limit and each player that does not survive loses. Each loser in the minigames loses either half or all of their coins, or all of their items, or a star.

Also in Mario Party 7, there are single player Bowser minigames where the one player who landed on the Bowser Space has to do various things to collect a key to escape from a dungeon before a time limit runs out. The penalty for losing is the same as in the Multiplayer Bowser minigames.

In Mario Party 9, Bowser's Minigames are referred to as Reverse Minigames where the player has to lose in order to win Mini Stars.

Introduced in Mario Party 5, Donkey Kong minigames are minigames run by Donkey Kong which are often short. They usually have players focus on collecting as many bananas as possible. After the Donkey Kong minigame is finished, players can trade their bananas to Donkey Kong for coins. They can also gain more depending on the DK Roulette.

Duel minigames are minigames that involve two players to play a minigame against each other. Most usually have high stakes. They are the only type of minigame in any 1-vs-1 game mode. The challenging player can choose to either play for coins or Stars. This is provided that the challenging player himself has enough to wager. From Mario Party 7 onwards, the winner's prize was decided by a roulette wheel.

Mario, Daisy, Waluigi, and Wario competing in a race in Insectiride, a Battle Minigame.

Battle minigames are minigames that take coins from all the players, then gives them back in different amounts based on the results. The amount of coins taken can go from 10 (later 5) to 50 coins per player. Unlike other minigames, the rank order is important- a player can still win some coins for being in second place. Like the 4-player minigames, most minigames are evenly matched between the four players.
The scoring for Battle games up to Mario Party 5:

1st: 70% of the total no. coins ; 50% for tie ; 33% for 3-way tie ; 25% if all players win/lose

2nd: 30% of the total no. coins ; 15% for tie ; 10% for 3-way tie

If the total number of coins is not a multiple of 10, one random player gets a bonus coin.

In Mario Party DS, there are some big changes. Depending on the turn number ranging from 2-30, the players can pay up to 60 coins and the scoring is a bit different from the previous installments. The reward distribution is:

1st: 65% of the total

2nd: 30% of the total

3rd: 5% of the total

4th: 0% of the total

In Mario Party 9, players can engage in a battle minigame by landing on the "Battle Minigame" space. Once a player has done so, a Hammer Bro will come and take three Mini Stars per person:

4-Player Battle:

1st: (50%) 6 Mini Stars

2nd: (33.3%) 4 Mini Stars

3rd: (16.7%) 2 Mini Stars

4th: 0 Mini Stars

3-Player Battle:

1st: (66%) 6 Mini Stars

2nd: (33%) 3 Mini Stars

3rd: 0 Mini Stars

Sometimes landing on the space mentioned above, will cause a Fire Bro to appear. The Fire Bro only makes last place lose ten Mini Stars, while the winners split the ten of the results:

4-Player Battle:

1st: +5 Mini Stars ; +4 for tie ; +3 for 3-way tie ; +9 if three players tie for last place ; +6 if two players tie for 2nd place or last

2nd: +3 Mini Stars ; +2 for tie

3rd: +2 Mini Stars

4th: -10 Mini Stars ; -5 Mini Stars for tie ; -9 for 3-way tie

3-Player Battle:

1st: +7 Mini Stars ; +5 for tie ; +10 if two players tie for last

2nd: +3 Mini Stars

3rd: -10 Mini Stars : -5 for tie

Also, if a player lands on a Bowser Space the players can be forced into battling for half of each player's Mini Stars. However, Bowser keeps any left over Mini Stars.

8-Player minigames are minigames only in Mario Party 7. They are played with 8 players, in 4 teams of 2. The first player of each team uses and while the second player of each team uses and . They are only accessible in 8 Player parties.

Also appearing in Mario Party 9, Boss Battles are played when the players reach a Boss Battle Space. Each board features two bosses. In these mini-games, players must defeat an enemy by working together (except in Diddy's Banana Blast and DK's Banana Bonus), though each one tries to get more points than the others. These minigames have no time limit and end only when the boss health meter is empty. When half of the health meter is empty, the boss gets more diverse ways to attack.

Super Mario 64 DS features a grand total of 36 minigames (mini-games), which are divided among the game's four playable characters. Two of each character's minigames are unlocked along with the characters themselves, while the remainder are unlocked by catching Rabbits. All of the minigames utilize the DS's touch screen.

New Super Mario Bros. featured minigames in much the same vein as Super Mario 64 DS. Indeed, some of the more popular Super Mario 64 DS minigames are copied exactly for New Super Mario Bros. However, most of the minigames are new, and many are multiplayer, something never seen in Super Mario 64 DS's games.

Game & Wario is a game for Wii U that has 16 minigames. These games usually try to showcase the Wii U GamePad's capabilities. All of their titles are based off of how the original Game & Watch's games had one name.

Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move is a Nintendo eShop for Nintendo 3DS that has four minigames. These minigames use the stylus on the bottom screen. ¾ of these minigames launch an object on the play area.